Commodities Corner

Cash Infusion

Are prices climbing a wall of worry or money?

STELLAR PRICE GAINS IN COMMODITIES and gnawing uncertainty about traditional investments like equities and fixed income have spurred a whole new group of investors to seek exposure to the sector. Retail investors, endowments and even staid pension funds have pumped an estimated $50 billion into index-tracking funds in the past two years alone -- with estimates of another $50 billion on the way in 2005.